


Drawn Like Fools

by Woofemus



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Developing Friendships, Gen, Implied Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-10
Updated: 2016-04-10
Packaged: 2018-06-01 08:55:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6511492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Woofemus/pseuds/Woofemus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Selena becomes good friends with someone from Hoshido, at the cost of her patience.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Drawn Like Fools

**Author's Note:**

> Revelation route but no spoilers for Birthright/Revelation although possibly some for Conquest. Some references to other supports like Setsuna/Niles, Setsuna/Kaze, and technically Beruka/Oboro, and certain people in Awakening.

Selena catches her wandering around in the middle of the battlefield.

The look on her face can only be described as pathetically lost, eyes blinking everywhere except for the enemy that’s in obvious sight. It must be one of the people from the Hoshido side; Odin might be useless sometimes but even he doesn’t compare to how utterly _lost_ this poor Hoshidan seems to be.

Selena’s eyes move down, catching the bow in her hands. An archer. Just great. Selena’s sure that this archer is more likely to shoot herself or her own allies before the enemy. In this place where constant fighting and war reign supreme even over the old world Selena’s come from, it looks like there are still idiots who have no place being on the battlefield.

Growling with frustration, Selena sets her horse off toward the clueless Hoshidan. Selena isn’t very keen on running a ferrying service but even she’d still rather not see anyone die, at least not if she can help it.

“Hey!” Selena shouts as soon as she gets closer, unable to keep the scowl off her face. “What are you doing out here!? You’re just wandering around looking at the ground! If you’re not gonna fight, get on out of here!”

“Oh!” The archer blinks up at Selena once she arrives. “A Nohrian! Um… there’s a lot of traps… I didn’t want to get caught up in them… I’d be stuck until someone found me…” she answers, scratching the back of her head. There isn’t even an ounce of shame or embarrassment on her.

“First of all, I’m not Nohrian,” Selena starts with a glower, “second of all, what are you, daft?! Walking around with your mouth open like some fool is going to get you killed so—“

“No? You’re not a Nohrian?” The archer interrupts instead, blinks at her again while tilting her head. “But you’re not… Hoshidan… I would remember you…” She pauses. “I think…”

Selena sucks in a breath, hands tight on her reins. She’s sorely tempted to just turn around right now, but unfortunately, she still has a conscience. That’s what she tells herself at least, when Odin and Laslow are still alive even after all their annoying antics.

Selena’s never truly met someone that got on _all_ her nerves (she did once, when she was still young and foolish and spoke harsh words without any regard, and now she lives with the regret that she’ll never be able to take them back) and this archer here won’t break her record.

“ _Anyway,_ ” Selena says, emphasizing each syllable to catch the Hoshidan’s attention, “consider this a free favor from me, I’ll take you to the backlines where _you_ rightfully belong.”

“The… backlines?” The archer blinks up at her. “But I was told to stay here.”

“Hah?! Who the heck would give you an order like that?”

“Um… Lady Hinoka did.”

Hinoka… Selena balks, staring at the archer. Princess Hinoka, the eldest of the Hoshidan princesses. Selena’s seen her a few times, soaring through the air on her pegasus and deposing of foes with mighty ferocity. Truthfully, her technique isn’t very graceful at all but Selena _knows_ she’s more than a match for their finest pegasus knights back home.

What Selena’s happy about is that at least Princess Hinoka’s hair isn’t longer, with a shade of red that's just too bright to be called normal. Still, the sight of the bright red hair soaring through the sky is more than enough to make Selena pause for just a moment and forcibly remind herself that it is _impossible._

Selena turns to her fully now, eyes boring into the Hoshidan. “You… who _are_ you?”

The archer blinks at her again before she announces herself, still speaking in that bored voice of hers. “I’m one of Lady Hinoka’s retainers… my name is Setsuna…”

_I’m one of Lady Hinoka’s retainers…_

_One of Lady Hinoka’s retainers…_

_Lady Hinoka’s retainer—_

Selena feels her brain explode.

“Hah?!” She can’t help but point a finger, eyes wide with disbelief. “ _You_?! A retainer for _Lady Hinoka_?! How?!”

The archer—Setsuna—tilts her head, thinking. “How? Hm… I was doing some archery in the castle and then she just came up and said ‘you’re going to be my retainer’ and that was it. I think.”

Maybe Selena’s thought too highly of Princess Hinoka.

The screech of a wyvern cuts their conversation short. Selena makes a tsk sound and readies her bow, glaring at the wyvern knight circling around them. The angle is a little odd for her, she might take more than a few tries before she gets him. “All right, I’ll take care of this, you get somewhere safe—”

And her mouth drops open when the wyvern knight falls from his saddle before she even finishes speaking, his body landing just some distance away. She’s about to turn to Setsuna before her eye catches another wyvern knight—

Once more, the wyvern knight’s body also falls from his saddle as well, plummeting to the ground with a painful thud that makes Severa wince. But following that body makes her realize a Faceless is now racing toward them.

“Oh, you’re seriously kidding me right now!” Selena tries to nock an arrow—

The Faceless suddenly stops before collapsing on the ground, an arrow straight through its head. Selena gapes. The Faceless wear helmets for a reason, and to just… penetrate straight through it…

Selena snaps her attention back down to Setsuna, watching her. For just a brief moment, Setsuna’s eyes are sharp, so sharp that Selena wouldn’t even be surprised if she could see what was on top of the mountain that looms over them in the background. But the look disappears and the blank expression comes back onto her face as she scans all over.

Selena finally understands it then, why someone like _her_ could be a retainer, much less Princess Hinoka’s.

“Oh, that’s it?” Setsuna speaks then, letting out a drawn sigh. “That was pretty easy… I’m bored now…”

Never mind, Selena still understands _nothing._

* * *

Setsuna is infuriating.

Even with Selena’s usual scowl and glower on her face, it does nothing to deter Setsuna from greeting her with that dopey smile on her face. “It’s… um, Severa—“

“ _Selena_ ,” she immediately retorts, ignoring the shudder that goes through her. Her real name sounds weird from someone who isn’t Odin or Laslow.

Setsuna nods slowly. “Selena, got it. I won’t forget next time,” she answers, with that same smile on her face. Selena still glowers at her.

How could someone like _her_ be a retainer? Granted, it isn’t as if Selena worked very hard to get to where she is either, but Nohr’s much different than Hoshido. If Selena isn’t careful back in Nohr, she’ll join the ranks of the dead without even realizing what hit her. Setsuna wouldn’t even last several _seconds_ in Nohr.

Until she remembers there are people like Arthur still running around, and Setsuna doesn’t look too bad in comparison anymore.

But still, Setsuna is _infuriating._

To add salt onto the wound, Lady Corrin’s been pairing them up during battles for whatever reason, so Selena has to see _more_ of this poor excuse for a retainer. Setsuna doesn’t look like she minds; rather, she’s always so happy to see Selena, grinning at her that Selena doesn’t even know how she feels about it.

And that isn’t even getting into the actual battles themselves! Selena swears she spends more time pulling Setsuna out of traps than swinging her own sword.

“Would it kill you to be more attentive?!” Selena shouts for the umpteenth time as she all but heaves Setsuna out of the pitfall. Her horse snorts like he’s laughing at her.

“I’m trying but sometimes, there’s just something that catches my attention,” Setsuna answers. She holds up a mushroom after, smiling like she’s caught some kind of big prize. “Like this, see? It’s a rare mushroom!”

Selena throws her hands up. She gets back onto her horse, leaves Setsuna to marvel over her catch. A flash of movement catches her eye though, and she realizes there’s an enemy paladin racing for them. 

“Enemy!” Selena shouts, readying into position. She grabs her bow—

“Here I go!” Somehow, Setsuna is already twirling an arrow in dizzying circles around, the mushroom nowhere to be seen. The paladin is attempting to run in a zigzag pattern now, trying to throw them off.

All Selena does is relax her own hold, watching Setsuna carefully. She’s already learned her lesson all the past times.

Without even being fazed at all, Setsuna only takes a few seconds to aim before firing off her arrow. The enemy immediately goes down in one hit, body crashing to the ground in a painful roll. Both of them wince but watch carefully for several seconds. Selena knows better than to trust when it looks like something is downed, after all. When it’s clear the enemy isn’t going to move at all, they lower their bows.

“Victory, victory!” Setsuna sings with a grin. Selena wrinkles her nose, her irritation rising.

If only it could stop there.

After Selena’s been _humbled_ so much in her own skills with a bow, she knows she needs to practice. Nothing but the best for her, even if she’d rather go shopping than do this. When there’s some free time, she steals away from everyone else to a remote area. Setting up a target on a tree, she runs off to what she thinks is a suitable distance away before taking aim.

Selena knows her own archery needs some work and might even called sloppy, but archery is apparently rare over on the side of Nohr. As long as she doesn’t shoot her own allies, everyone is more than content to leave her to her own devices, whether she actually _can_ use a bow or not. She likes to think she can; all those callouses on her hands isn’t _just_ from swinging her sword around.

She might need some help but she’s not going to ask _Niles_ for it. Whatever instruction she’s had for archery is mostly self-taught, along with remembering bits and pieces of advice from a dear friend. With the thought of her old friend though, the sudden pang of homesickness shoots through her instead. Selena already knows the moment she fires the arrow that it won’t hit where she wants, too worked up to properly correct her aim.

“Oh, that’s too bad.”

Selena yelps and whirls around, an arrow clumsily nocked, ready to shoot the intruder—

Setsuna blinks at her, entirely unfazed at the arrow pointed at her face.

“G-gah!” Selena quickly swipes the arrow away, eyes darting everywhere. “W-where the heck did you even come from!? I didn’t hear you at all!”

“You didn’t?” Setsuna makes a pleased face, laughing to herself. “That’s good then… Master Kaze was telling me to work on my stealth…”

Selena raises an eyebrow. “’Master’ Kaze?”

“Uh huh… it was kind of boring though… so I left to go practice my archery instead… and then I saw you here,” Setsuna answers, clarifying nothing of Selena’s original question.

“… Setsuna, I’m pretty far away from camp. How the heck did you end up from there to here?!”

Setsuna blinks before she looks all around. “Oh… are we? I didn’t even notice… I think I was daydreaming about something… and then I saw you over here when I stopped so I came over.”  

Selena bites back the retort that she’s surprised Setsuna didn’t fall into a trap on the way here.

“Are… you trying to hit that target over there?” Setsuna asks, unaware of Selena’s internal conflicts.

“Yes,” Selena says in a clipped tone before sighing. It isn’t as if Setsuna will understand anyway.

“Hm…” Waiting for just one second, Setsuna is already readying an arrow and without any hesitation at all, immediately fires it.

It strikes dead center of the target.

Selena pushes her lips together in a humorless smile.

“That wasn’t hard,” Setsuna says with a little laugh, completely unaware of Selena’s darkening mood.

“Gods! Look at you, so good with your archery! You’re almost as good as—no, you’re just as good, if not better than her! And here I am, eating your guys’ dust!” Selena blurts out, scowling at the dirt under her boots.

Setsuna glances over at Selena. “Hm? Her? Was… there anyone else who did archery—”

“N-N-Never mind!” Selena sputters, heart racing at how much she gave herself away. Even if it’s to Setsuna, she can’t risk any possibilities here. She coughs into her hand instead. “Anyway, how did you even get to be so good at shooting? All of this can’t just be practicing _every_ single day for your entire life!”

“But… that _is_ all I do?” Setsuna mumbles, putting a hand on her chin. “My family… is very rich, so I didn’t have much to do. I practiced archery everyday… and now, it’s the best thing I can do.”

Selena is incredulous. How nice it must have been, growing up without any worries, being able to do something like _archery_ for leisure. The more she learns about Setsuna, the more she wants to… just… _just—_

It’s entirely unfair.

Selena turns to Setsuna, eyes ablaze. “A competition! Let’s have a competition! You and me! With archery!” she all but screams.

“A competition?” Setsuna frowns. “it sounds like so much work…”

“What, scared you’ll lose to me?”

“No,” Setsuna says outright, and Selena immediately glowers. “I mean… I don’t mind, but...” she turns to Selena, a questioning look on her face. “I know you’re not as good as me... I’d win all the time and get bored... it wouldn’t be very fair for you...”

“The fact that you don’t even realize how you sound right is just—!” Selena grinds her teeth together. She forcefully exhales. There’s no use getting mad at Setsuna, _especially_ at Setsuna, of all people. “Fine! Give me some pointers then! And I’ll be shooting better than you in no time!”

“Pointers?” Setsuna crosses her arms, frowning. “I think I can try but I’m not… very good at teaching.”

“Whatever! Anything from a master has to be useful!”

“Master? Are you my student, Selena?” Setsuna looks at her oddly. “That sounds kind of weird… you’re the one always helping me out…”

“Damn right,” Selena mutters before clearing her throat. “Well, then, about as… as…” Her mind blanks as to what she can call their exact relationship.

“Oh! I’ll help you out as a friend,” Setsuna speaks, smiling at her. “You’re always so nice to me and even during battle too… that makes us friends…”

“Hah?! Friends?!” Selena wishes she could understand what goes through Setsuna’s mind sometimes.

“I don’t have many friends,” Setsuna mumbles as she glances away. Is that a hint of pain on her face? Selena can’t tell, but Setsuna falls quiet following her admission. But she looks back at Selena then, a smile on her face. “But I like spending time with you, Selena. You’re so interesting…”

Selena feels the familiar heat creeping into her cheeks. Ugh, why does she have to be cursed with being so easily embarrassed at _everything_?

“F-f-fine!” Selena somehow manages, spinning around away from Setsuna’s pleased look. Friends… she didn’t think she would make any here in this world, especially with someone like _Setsuna_ , of all people. She’s definitely getting soft, that has to be it. With a sigh, she crosses her arms and slowly turns back around. Her scowl changes into a petulant frown. “Okay… we’re friends. Teach me some archery, because we’re friends. Got it?”

“Yay…” Setsuna’s voice still sounds just as bored as ever but there is an honest to genuine smile on her face. So even Setsuna can make expressions like this too, Selena can’t help but think. 

“Oh… well… let’s see…” Setsuna takes a deep breath. “Sometimes… when I have my bow in my hands… I clear all my thoughts…”

“Clearing thoughts, got it.”

“And then… I look at the target…” Setsuna demonstrates, angling her body toward Selena’s tree and holding up her bow. Just like her bow, Setsuna’s body is drawn tight as well, as she concentrates completely. “And then…”

Selena waits. And waits. With a sneaking suspicion, Selena gives a loud clap with her hands. Setsuna startles, dropping her arrow, eyes darting over to Selena in surprise.

“Oh, sorry… I ended up daydreaming for a bit...”

Being friends still doesn’t change the fact that Setsuna is still infuriating.

* * *

Finally, Selena gets some reprieve. Corrin’s assigned her somewhere else, and Setsuna is with her princess today, somewhere up in the sky or… wherever they are. Selena turns her eyes upward, scanning the skies. Last she checked, Beruka was trailing behind, but she doesn’t seem to be here anymore. Maybe Camilla’s found some new target and called Beruka to help her, when Selena doesn’t spot the Nohrian princess either.

It’s… almost boring, Selena realizes. As if to punctuate that thought, she yawns, uncaring of whoever sees her. It feels entirely too quiet. Selena didn’t realize how much she had gotten used to Setsuna staring off into space only to giggle to herself, or her suddenly disappearing as they go down a path because she fell into trap.

Selena groans, rubbing her face. “Ugh, give me some excitement, at least!”

Wyvern screeches answer her call, a wave of them flying over the horizon toward her. Selena rolls her eyes. “Of course.”

In the sky though, there’s a Falcon Knight coming to her aid, bright red hair just way too noticeable to miss.

And the archer easily holding onto Hinoka from behind, already aiming her bow. It doesn’t surprise Selena one bit that of course Setsuna would also have no trouble shooting in the air as well. It makes Selena wonder why Setsuna doesn’t ride one of those golden birds they have in Hoshido. Selena would certainly jump at the chance to ride one of those majestic creatures.

If only she didn’t have an aversion to flying mounts in the first place.

She doesn’t have to think too much about that thought anymore, when she notices enemies charging in from the ground as well. Selena puts her thoughts aside for now, focusing on the battle. Setsuna isn’t here to clear them for her with frightening accuracy. It feels like it’s been a while since Selena’s fought by herself, but she’s been doing it her whole life and more anyway. The motions are all ingrained into her that she can’t remember never fighting.

Beruka drops in suddenly, landing on the ground to let a Hoshidan off her saddle before rising back up to the sky. Selena blinks at that. When did Beruka get cozy with one of their former enemies? And it isn’t just _any_ Hoshidan either, but the spear fighter that glares daggers at any Nohrian.

Huh.

“Whatever,” Selena mutters though the small hint of curiosity stays in her mind. She’ll ask Beruka about it later.

There’s a lot more enemies than Selena anticipated but soon, the ground units are cleared. The sky still isn’t clear though. Lady Hinoka is certainly formidable but wyvern lords are especially tenacious, especially against one flier. Selena takes aim with her bow. Her strength and skill in archery isn’t good enough to take them down in one blow like Setsuna can, but she can still significantly weaken them, at least enough for Beruka to easily pick off.

Under Setsuna’s tutelage, Selena feels improvement in her archery, slightly more accurate than before. It’s a miracle really, because Setsuna’s tutelage is honestly godawful. Most of it consisted of Selena aiming at a target and Setsuna circling around her, shaking her head and telling her that she felt something was off with Selena’s form. Another moment had Setsuna poking Selena in the ribs and Selena nearly shooting the arrow right into her own foot, and Setsuna had the gall to tell her it was because Selena was too wound up.

“Stupid, so stupid,” Selena mutters to herself in gleeful spite as she watches her arrows hit their mark. “One idiot learning from another—“

And that’s when it happens.

A wyvern lord suddenly bee lines straight ahead. Selena can’t turn her head too fast in time to catch everything. What she does catch though, is sudden scream and the sight of a body falling from the sky. She squints her eyes: a black dress with strange white fur, bow in hand, green-blueish hair—

Selena spurs her horse once the realization hits her. _Make it, make it, make it, please Naga or whatever the hell is watching over this world!_  

With eyes wide and body shaking, she manages to catch Setsuna. The force of it pushes her out of her own saddle and she tumbles to the ground, grimacing at the pain in her back.

“Jeez! What are you doing, daydreaming while in the sky—“ and that’s when Severa sees it, the long gash running down Setsuna’s body.

“Se… Selena?” Setsuna gasps, a shaky smile coming onto her face. “O-oh… did y-you catch me? T-thanks… that would h-have hurt if I hit the ground…”

“N-never mind about that!” Selena immediately snaps out, eyes already darting all over for a healer. “C’mon, c’mon, where’s a damn healer when we finally need one! Dammit!” She turns her attention back to Setsuna, trying to do her best to stop the blood. She can’t tell how deep the wound is but visceral fear and panic is starting to creep up on her and it’s all she can do to hold _herself_ together.

After what seems like forever, a healer finally comes into vicinity. Severa normally balks at calling out to him but she has a friend in trouble. There are more things at stake here than her useless pride. “Niles!”

He turns to her with that aggravating smirk on his face—and immediately drops it, rushing right over as soon as he notices Setsuna, who tries to weakly wave out to him.

“O-oh… Niles is here too… h-hello,” Setsuna greets, her voice weak.

Niles whistles lowly as he moves the Heal staff over Setsuna. For once, he isn’t cracking any of his terrible innuendos, his expression completely serious as he focuses on healing Setsuna. And Setsuna herself, she isn’t making any loud sounds, only grits her teeth in pain as the healing pulls her wounded skin back together. Selena can’t help but think that concentration of hers is incredible.

“Setsuna!”

Before any of them realize Princess Hinoka drops down next to then, leaping straight off her pegasus. Thankfully, she doesn’t interrupt them, hovering around with franticness.

“There,” Niles finally announces, falling back on his hands, sweat dripping down his face from exertion. “I did what I could but I’m obviously not as experienced as our other healers. Take her to Lady Elise or someone much more skilled.” He stands up, and Hinoka immediately takes his place, hands reaching out. Selena easily lets her take Setsuna off her hands, turning away afterward.

Selena looks down at her hands, at the blood on it, and scowls. No matter the world, the fear is always the same, she thinks.  

“… a pained look really doesn’t suit her,” Niles murmurs before he leaves.

Selena can’t believe this but she actually agrees with him. Out of the corner of her eye, she glances over at the other two.

Setsuna’s eyes are closed and her chest barely rises, but she’s still alive. Hinoka’s eyes are hard as she stares at the freshly healed wound on Setsuna, hands carefully moving around to properly pick her up.

Hinoka brushes past her, murmuring a quick “excuse me” as she does, rushing to her pegasus.

Selena watches her go. She wanted to be mad. How could Setsuna, who did nothing but have her head in the clouds all day long, be more than willing to perform the ultimate sacrifice?

Then again, Selena didn’t think she had the guts for it herself, but she would have done the same once, for another liege.

* * *

Selena catches sight of Camilla and Hinoka standing outside the infirmary, actually conversing with each other for once instead of Camilla shamelessly flirting with the Hoshidan princess. They turn to her, Camilla’s face brightening for whatever reason. Before Selena realizes, Hinoka’s marched forward to her, meeting her halfway. Selena shoots Camilla a questioning look but all her princess does is smile at her, a gesture that tells Selena nothing of what to expect but it doesn’t mean she’s in trouble, at least.

“Selena, is it? You’re the one that saved Setsuna, right?” Hinoka speaks, her voice oddly soft. It sounds unbecoming for a warrior princess like Hinoka, Selena can’t help but think, as she recalls being able to hear the battle roars of Princess Hinoka from where she is on the ground.

“E-er, yeah,” Selena says, unsure of what to even do in this situation. It isn’t everyday she has _Hoshidan_ royalty addressing her, after all.

Hinoka smiles gratefully at her before she bows deeply. “Thank you so much for saving Setsuna. She’s one of my retainers but she’s been at my side for so long that to lose her would be…” Hinoka doesn’t finish her sentence, nor does she need to.

“Um, no problem,” Selena awkwardly mumbles out. “S-Setsuna is also… u-um, a fr-fr—“ her tongue feels like it sticks to the roof her mouth but she clears her throat and pushes through. “I-I mean, she’s also a friend too, so… yeah,” she finishes lamely, her cheeks reddening with embarrassment. Gods, as if she could be even more awkward, especially in front of royalty. It’s like she hasn’t ever been in the presence of royalty before, with the way she’s acting right now!

This awkwardness is only reserved for another certain loyal, her traitorous mind tells her, stirring memories of back home, with a certain—

Selena isn’t about to take a trip down memory lane _now._

Hinoka straightens herself, the smile still on her face. “Ah yes, Setsuna also tells me about you too, about how she’s made a great friend on the Nohrian side… I’m happy that you also feel the same way about her. I know she isn’t… easy to get along with…“ Hinoka laughs sheepishly.

She can sure say _that_ again.

“Anyway, I’m sure you’re here to see Setsuna, so I won’t keep you.” Hinoka gives her a nod before she leaves, white scarf billowing behind her.

Camilla walks up to Selena then, patting her shoulder in a gesture of praise. “Good job, darling,” she says with a purr. “I’m so glad you’re getting along with our friends from Hoshido.”

Selena looks away, grumbling. “She’s annoying, sticking to me like a barb.”

Camilla laughs before sliding her hand off. “They’re an interesting bunch, aren’t they? Even Beruka seems to be making friends.”

“… I guess,” Selena finally concedes, sighing. “They’re okay.”  

Camilla gives her one last smile and excuses herself, most likely to saunter after Hinoka. Selena shakes her head with a sigh, wishing Princess Hinoka good luck. She turns back to the infirmary, takes a deep breath, and strolls right in.

Setsuna is on the bed furthest away from entrance, idly staring at the ceiling. When Selena arrives, her eyes just _hone_ in on her. It takes all of Selena’s being just to not shudder from the overly intense look. It quickly passes though, and Setsuna is smiling that usual dopey smile she always seems to have on.

“Selena… you came to visit me.”

“What, you didn’t think I’d come?” Selena scoffs even though she was on the fence about visiting in the first place. She finally decided on it in the end. If anything, all she had to do was see her for a few minutes, make an excuse, and scram out of there.

“I’m so bored in here…” Setsuna blows a puff of air through her mouth. It lifts the part of her bangs that hang down her face, pushing it to the side now but still covering her eye. Selena absently wonders if Setsuna is like Peri, with different colored eyes.

“At least you won’t be falling into traps anytime soon,” Selena finally says, a tiny smirk on her face.

“Hm… this place has a lot of… mousetraps… I know…”

Selena doesn’t doubt Setsuna’s firsthand knowledge of that. As Setsuna falls silent, Selena awkwardly glances around. There doesn’t seem to be much people in here today, and the healers themselves don’t look like they’re inside. Selena’s a little glad for it being relatively empty. It always makes her more nervous than she admits, being surrounded by wounded and sickly.

She finally turns back to Setsuna, only to find the Hoshidan staring right at her. Selena glances away, huffing slightly. “Well? How’s your… wound?”

“It kind of hurts still… but it’s also really boring in here…” Setsuna blows out another loud puff of air before grimacing.

“You could just go to sleep or daydream like you always do. You’ll be out in no time.”

“No… it’s…” Setsuna’s face scrunches up, like she’s in pain or thinking of something bad. Selena turns back to her, raising an eyebrow. “When I’m hurt... sometimes, I have this dream…”

“Oh?” Selena can’t help the mocking tone, knowing it’d go right over Setsuna’s head. It’s going to be one of those silly dreams, like her drowning in tofu or being surrounded by traps and not knowing which one she wants to get herself caught in.

“Uh huh…” Setsuna continues, blissfully unaware of Selena’s thoughts. “It feels like Lady Hinoka is in trouble… I think we got beat by the enemy and now they want to kill her…”

Selena stills with surprise. She hadn’t expected this, of all things, especially not from Setsuna.

Setsuna goes on with her story. “Lady Hinoka is kneeling and tells Azama and me to leave… the enemy comes closer with a sword… kind of looks like Lady Corrin’s sword almost, hm…”

“Hah?! What do you mean?!” 

“I don’t know... that’s what it looks like to me... the sword goes up… and…” Setsuna trails off, humming as she stares at the ceiling. Selena waits patiently, tapping her finger against her arm until she realizes the silence has stretched for far too long.

“What? That’s it?”

“... that’s it.” Setsuna doesn’t say anything else, staring straight at the ceiling with her usual blank expression. Selena stares at her, waiting—

Ah, there it is. She can sense a change coming over the wounded girl. Setsuna’s usual impartial expression changes, her lips curving downward, clearly unhappy as she looks up at the ceiling with a sullen look. It looks strange on her.

“If Lady Hinoka told me to leave… to get myself to safety…” Setsuna begins before she shakes her head. “No… I would never leave Lady Hinoka’s side… even if I was going to die. I would never.”

“That’s why… I have to do my best for Lady Hinoka… so she’ll never have to say anything like that. I’m terrible at everything else, but archery is the only thing I’m good at… it’s all I have to serve Lady Hinoka with…” Setsuna finishes with a quiet murmur. She doesn’t have her bow on her but her eyes are sharp, like she’s aiming straight ahead. “For Lady Hinoka… even my life…” she trails off now, her words hanging in the air. 

“… jeez, I don’t understand you at all.” Selena sniffs as she crosses her arms. “Talking about how useless you are and saying all this prattle like laying down your life for your liege because it’s the only thing you can do…” 

Unbidden, the color of her mind becomes seeped with blue. Compared to _her,_ Selena is nothing, will always be nothing, not even a blemish on the armor of a ruler who no longer had a kingdom to rule over. Even so, the light of her Exalt had never dimmed.

In a time that seems so far away now, Selena liked to think she would have given herself up to keep that light going. Lady Camilla is a wonderful master, but Selena’s promises already lay with another.

In the end, they’re both nothing but fools bound to a duty they gladly embrace.

Selena sighs, scratching the back of her head as she mumbles. “You’re still pretty awful for a retainer, but your loyalty is genuine.” She looks into Setsuna’s eyes as she speaks her next words. “Lady Hinoka should be proud to have you as her retainer.”

Setsuna’s eyes widen just the slightest. “No one’s ever said that to me before.” She blinks at Selena several more times before she turns away, leaning back into her pillow. A smile comes onto her face as she laughs slowly. She still looks and sounds goofy, but Selena thinks she doesn’t mind this time. “That makes me very happy.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Selena says with a wave of her hand, already feeling more than awkward about lauding praise onto someone else. “Well… I guess it’s time for me to get going. Hurry up and get better. I know it’s boring in here but Lady Hinoka will be worrying about you until you get better, so… don’t let her down. And…” Selena spins around, making sure her face is hidden from Setsuna, “also so you can get back into battle with me! It’s boring when you’re not being a total bother to me. And teach me more of the bow too!”

“Lady Hinoka… and you too… worrying about me... okay, I’ll try my best…” The sheets rustle, and Selena turns back around, just to check on Setsuna one more time. Instead, she finds Setsuna staring at her again. 

“What?” Selena asks. Maybe Setsuna is thirsty, or hungry.

“I’m still not tired yet though…” Setsuna mumbles.

“Seriously?”

“Hm… it might take me a while to fall asleep… hospital beds aren’t quite as nice as traps…”

Selena wishes she could even understand what goes through Setsuna’s head sometimes. Letting out another sigh, she comes back to Setsuna’s bedside.

“… do you want to hear a story?” Selena begins, not believing that she’s really going to do this. Okay, she really is. Somehow, being in this world where fighting is yet another constant of daily life has inexplicably made her softer. Or she’s become much more sentimental after facing down one world disaster and nearly seeing everything destroyed right before her very eyes once more. 

(Or how she knows that she’ll have to leave them all behind one day.)

A story now… ah, Selena’s thought of something. It’ll be okay to share something like this. Setsuna probably won’t even remember a single detail after she knocks out.

“A story?” Now Setsuna is the one giving her a strange look, like she didn’t expect that at all. But she smiles, clearly interested. “I don’t mind… oh, it won’t be boring, will it?”

“Rude! Of course it won’t be boring, _I’m_ the one telling it! You’ll practically be begging me for more if I stop in the middle!”

“Oh… okay then. I’m excited,” Setsuna says with all the excitement of a brick, but she looks at Selena expectantly. Selena takes a deep breath before she begins her tale.  

“In some land like far, far, _far_ away, there’s this kingdom called Ylisse—hey! Why are you already asleep?!”


End file.
